Hirosaki

弘前市ひろさきしHirosaki-shi

Tsugaru's castle town, beneath Mount Iwaki and among apple orchards

Hirosaki is the former castle town of the Tsugaru clan in western Aomori Prefecture and the cultural centre of the Tsugaru region. It is known for Hirosaki Castle, one of Japan's twelve original keeps, its cherry blossoms, the Neputa festival and its apple orchards below Mount Iwaki.

Overview

Hirosaki lies on the Tsugaru Plain in the west of Aomori Prefecture, with the cone of Mount Iwaki on its western horizon. For more than 250 years it was the seat of the Tsugaru clan, and the grid of the castle town – samurai quarter, merchant streets and a temple district – still structures the centre. Hirosaki Castle's keep, rebuilt in 1810, is one of only twelve castle keeps in Japan to survive from the feudal era.

After the Meiji Restoration the city lost its political role to Aomori but became a centre of education, missionary schools and the army, leaving a notable collection of Western-style buildings from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Hirosaki University and its hospital keep it a student and medical town.

The surrounding orchards make Hirosaki the heart of Japan's largest apple-growing area. Its cherry blossoms, among the most celebrated in the country, and its summer Neputa festival are the two high points of the year, while Tsugaru lacquer, kogin embroidery and Tsugaru-jamisen music are all closely associated with the city.

Landmarks

Hirosaki Castle and Park
弘前城Hirosaki-jō
Original 1810 keep, gates and turrets designated Important Cultural Properties, set in a park of moats and several thousand cherry trees.
Chōshō-ji and Zenrin-gai
長勝寺Chōshō-ji
Family temple of the Tsugaru clan at the end of Zenrin-gai, an avenue lined with more than thirty Sōtō Zen temples laid out as a defensive quarter.
Saishō-in Five-Storey Pagoda
最勝院五重塔Saishō-in gojū-no-tō
Pagoda completed in 1667, an Important Cultural Property and often described as the northernmost of its kind in Japan.
Fujita Memorial Garden
藤田記念庭園Fujita Kinen Teien
Taishō-era landscape garden by the castle with a Western-style house and a borrowed view of Mount Iwaki.
Former Fifty-Ninth Bank Head Office
旧第五十九銀行本店本館Kyū Dai-gojūku Ginkō Honten Honkan
Wooden Renaissance-style bank of 1904 built by the local master carpenter Horie Sakichi, an Important Cultural Property.
Hirosaki Museum of Contemporary Art
弘前れんが倉庫美術館Hirosaki Renga Sōko Bijutsukan
Contemporary art museum in a converted brick warehouse once used for sake and cider production, redesigned by Tane Tsuyoshi.
Nakamachi samurai district
仲町Nakamachi
Preserved samurai quarter north of the castle with hedged lanes and several open residences.
Ōmori Katsuyama Site
大森勝山遺跡Ōmori Katsuyama iseki
Final Jōmon stone circle on the foothills of Mount Iwaki, a component of the Jōmon World Heritage property.

Districts

Nakamachi
仲町Nakamachi
Former samurai residences north of the castle, a nationally designated Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings.
Dotemachi
土手町Dotemachi
Main shopping street south-east of the castle, on the route of the Neputa parades.
Zenrin-gai
禅林街Zenrin-gai
Temple quarter south-west of the centre, with thirty-three Zen temples along a single avenue.
Iwaki
岩木Iwaki
Foothill district of Mount Iwaki with Iwakiyama Shrine, the Hyakuzawa and Dake hot springs and apple orchards.

History

Tsugaru Tamenobu, who had made himself independent of the Nanbu, began planning a new castle on the Takaoka plateau; his son Nobuhira completed it in 1611 and laid out the town around it, moving temples into two planned districts to protect the approaches. The keep burned after a lightning strike in 1627, and the town was renamed Hirosaki in 1628. A smaller three-storey keep was built on a corner of the main enclosure in 1810. In 1871 Hirosaki briefly gave its name to the prefecture before the seat moved to Aomori. The city became one of Japan's first municipalities with city status in 1889, hosted the army's 8th Division from 1898 and gained a national university in 1949. In 2015 the entire castle keep was moved about 70 m on rails so that the collapsing stone base beneath it could be rebuilt.

1611
Tsugaru Nobuhira completes Hirosaki Castle and the castle town on the Takaoka plateau.
1627
Lightning sets fire to the original five-storey keep, which burns down.
1628
Takaoka is renamed Hirosaki.
1810
The present three-storey keep is built on the south-east corner of the main enclosure.
1871
The Hirosaki domain becomes Hirosaki Prefecture, whose seat soon moves to Aomori.
1889
Hirosaki is among the first municipalities in Japan to receive city status.
1898
The Imperial Japanese Army's 8th Division is stationed in Hirosaki.
1949
Hirosaki University is founded.
2006
Hirosaki merges with the town of Iwaki and the village of Sōma.
2015
The castle keep is moved on rails to allow repair of the stone walls beneath it.

Culture

Hirosaki sees itself as the guardian of Tsugaru culture. Tsugaru-nuri lacquer is made in workshops across the city, kogin embroidery has been revived here since the mid-twentieth century, and Tsugaru-jamisen can be heard in live houses and at the Tsugaru-han Neputa Village. The Neputa festival differs from Aomori's Nebuta in its fan-shaped floats, painted in the style of Chinese and Japanese battle epics on the front and with a beauty on the back. The city's Western-style buildings, churches and Christian schools reflect its early openness to missionaries, and Hirosaki is the hometown of the artist Nara Yoshitomo and the writer Terayama Shūji.

Festivals

Hirosaki Cherry Blossom Festival
弘前さくらまつりHirosaki Sakura Matsuri
From late April to early May the castle park fills with blossoms; petals floating on the outer moat form the so-called 'flower raft'.
Hirosaki Neputa Matsuri
弘前ねぷたまつりHirosaki Neputa Matsuri
Held 1–7 August: dozens of fan-shaped floats are pulled through the city to the chant 'yā-yadō'. An Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property.
Hirosaki Castle Snow Lantern Festival
弘前城雪燈籠まつりHirosaki-jō Yuki-dōrō Matsuri
Winter festival in February with snow lanterns, snow sculptures and candle-lit igloos in the castle grounds.
Chrysanthemum and Autumn Leaves Festival
弘前城菊と紅葉まつりHirosaki-jō Kiku to Momiji Matsuri
Autumn event in the castle park combining chrysanthemum displays with the colouring maples.
Oyama-sankei
お山参詣Oyama-sankei
Harvest pilgrimage to the summit of Mount Iwaki at the start of the eighth lunar month, with processions from Iwakiyama Shrine.

Food

Apples and apple pie
りんごringo
The city's orchards supply fresh fruit, juice and cider, and dozens of cafés and bakeries compete with their own apple pies.
Tsugaru soba
津軽そばTsugaru soba
Soft buckwheat noodles bound with soybean paste and left to rest overnight, served in a mild dashi of dried sardines.
Igamenchi
いがめんちigamenchi
Fried patties of chopped squid tentacles and vegetables, a Tsugaru home dish.
Dake-kimi corn
嶽きみDake-kimi
Very sweet sweetcorn grown on the high Dake plateau of Mount Iwaki, sold by the roadside in late summer.
French cuisine
フランス料理Furansu ryōri
Hirosaki has an unusually large number of French restaurants for its size, many using local apples and produce.

Getting around

Hirosaki Station is on the Ōu Main Line, about 30–40 minutes by train from Shin-Aomori, where the Tohoku Shinkansen stops.
The Kōnan Railway runs from Hirosaki to Kuroishi, and a second Kōnan line from Chūō-Hirosaki to Ōwani.
The Gonō Line from nearby Kawabe follows the Sea of Japan coast past Shirakami-Sanchi to Akita Prefecture.
Loop buses connect the station with the castle, Dotemachi and the temple and samurai districts; the centre is compact enough to walk or cycle.
Aomori Airport is about an hour away by bus.

Day trips

Mount Iwaki
岩木山Iwaki-san
The Tsugaru Iwaki Skyline toll road and a chairlift lead to just below the summit; Iwakiyama Shrine stands at its foot.
Shirakami-Sanchi
白神山地Shirakami-sanchi
Beech forest World Heritage Site; Anmon Falls and Juniko lakes are the most accessible areas from Hirosaki.
Kuroishi
黒石Kuroishi
Small castle town with the komise-dōri, a street of covered wooden arcades that sheltered pedestrians from the snow.
Goshogawara and Kanagi
五所川原Goshogawara
Hall of the towering Tachineputa floats and, in Kanagi, Dazai Osamu's family house Shayōkan.
Aomori
青森Aomori
Prefectural capital with Sannai-Maruyama and the Nebuta museum.

Other cities in the prefecture

CapitalAomoriAomori-shiPort capital of the north, between Mutsu Bay and the Hakkōda Mountains Core cityHachinoheHachinohe-shiFishing port, industrial city and heart of the Nanbu area

Frequently asked questions

When do the cherry blossoms bloom at Hirosaki Castle?

Usually from late April into early May, when the Hirosaki Cherry Blossom Festival is held. The exact timing depends on the spring weather.

Is Hirosaki Castle original?

Yes. The three-storey keep dates from 1810 and is one of twelve castle keeps in Japan that survive from the Edo period; several gates and turrets are also original.

What is the difference between Hirosaki's Neputa and Aomori's Nebuta?

Hirosaki's Neputa floats are mostly flat and fan-shaped with painted pictures, while Aomori's Nebuta are large three-dimensional figures. Both are illuminated from within and paraded in early August.

How do I get to Hirosaki from Tokyo?

Take the Tohoku Shinkansen to Shin-Aomori and change to the Ōu Main Line for Hirosaki; the total journey is roughly three and a half to four hours.

What is Hirosaki known for besides the castle?

Apples, Tsugaru lacquer, kogin embroidery, a temple district of thirty-three Zen temples and a collection of Meiji- and Taishō-era Western-style buildings.

Sources

1.令和2年国勢調査 (opens in a new tab) — Statistics Bureau of Japan
2.弘前市ホームページ (opens in a new tab) — 弘前市
3.Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan (opens in a new tab) — UNESCO World Heritage Centre